Automatic circuit breaker



Nov. 8, 1955 P. J. AASEBY AUTOMATIC CIRCUIT BREAKER Filed May 21, 1953INVENTOR. Palmer J. Aaseby %Mfl Z7 ATTORNEY United States l atentAUTOMATIC CIRCUIT BREAKER Palmer 3. Aaseby, Spokane, Wash.

Application May 21, 1953, Serial No. Claims. (Cl. 290-6147) The presentinvention relates to a circuit breaker and, more particularly, to anautomatic circuit breaker.

One object of the invention is to provide a circuit breaker which may beinterposed in the ignition circuit of a vehicle such as crawler or wheeltype tractors and the like so as to break the electric circuit when thevehicle is tilted beyond a safe operating position.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a circuitbreaker of this kind which will break the electric circuit in which itis interposed and which will maintain the circuit in broken or opencondition until the circuit breaker is manually reset to again close thecircuit.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a circuitbreaker which is easily adaptable to either battery or magneto ignitionsystem circuits so as to break the circuit and stop operation of aninternal combustion engine.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andin which like numerals are employed to designate like parts:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation showing the preferred embodiment ofmy invention supported on a longitudinal beam of a vehicle;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical cross section taken through thecircuit breaker;

Figure 3 is a transverse cross section taken through the front chamberof the circuit breaker; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the securing and adjusting boltforming a part of the present invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the

numeral 1-0 .designates a cylindrical tubular casing which is formedpreferably .of a non-conductive material and has its open ends closed bymeans of disks or closures l1 and 12 which are hermetically sealed inthe ends thereof.

Within the casing Ill I have provided a divider 13 which is irregular inshape and has a duo-plane face 14 disposed at the forward side and anangled face 15' at its rearward side. The forward face 14- comprises twocontiguous planes, the lower one 16 of which is shown to besubstantially 45 degrees from horizontal and angled upwardly at arearward incline and the upper face 17 is disposed upwardly at arearward incline substantially 30 degrees from horizontal. Forconvenience of manufacture, the divider 13 has been shown to be anindividual piece separate from the casing 10 and is adheringly securedtherein to form a fluid tight connection between the divider and thelower portion of the casing. The divider 13 is provided with an apex orridge 18 which extends transversely of the casing lltl substantially atits diameter, defining the front chamber 19 and the rear chamber 2%within the casing at its front and rear ends.

A block 21 is secured within the casing at the upper side and isprovided with an angled convex face 22 forming an upper wall whichextends upwardly at a forward ice angle from the rear chamber toward thefront chamber. As indicated in Figures 2 and 3, the face or wall isshaped to cause fluid to flow from the rear chamber to the forwardchamber when the circuit breaker is axially rotated degrees from theposition shown, thus permitting manual transfer of a fluid from the rearchamber to the front chamber.

Each chamber is provided with a pair of electrodes 23, 24, andZfii. Theelectrode 23 is common to both chambers and has a head 26 disposed inthe front chamber and an elongated rod 27 which extends through thedivider 13, rear chamber 20 and rear closure 12 Where it has its rearouter end threaded to receive a complementary nut 28 for electricallyconnecting and physically securing a fuse clip 29 on one end of thecircuit breaker.

The electrode 24 is threadedly engaged through a sleeve 34) whichextends through the closure at its lower side and is provided with a lip31 to which a wire 32 may be electrically secured. The electrode 24 ismanually rotatable by means of thumb knob 33 and may be selectivelypositioned in physical contact with electrode 23 or spaced therefrom inselective varying degrees.

The other electrode 25 extends through the wall of casing 10 into therear compartment 20 on the lower side of the casing and is permanentlyfixed spaced from the rod 2'7 of electrode 23. A ground wire 34 iselectrically connected to the electrode 25 and thence secured to theground or frame member 35 of the vehicle.

A second fuse clip 29' is secured to the closurre 12 in spaced relationto the clip 29 and a conventional fuse 36 is releasably held therein.Wire 37 is electrically connected by any suitable means to the clip 29.

A liquid conductor 38, such as mercury, is normally contained within thefront chamber 19 in quantity to cover the pair of electrodes 23 and 24therein, electrically connecting said electrodes when in their spacedrelative positions.

A supporting bracket 39 is secured by means of bolts 40 to the framemember 35 and the bracket is provided with a vertically disposed ring 41which encircles the casing 10 of the circuit breaker and permits axialrotation thereof. v

To secure the circuit breaker, l have provided a central apertureindicated by the numeral 42, in the closure 11. A securing bolt,indicated in general by the numeral 43 and disclosed in Figure 4, has anend cap plate 4A disposed within the circuit breaker and against theinside face of the closure 11 and has an eccentric annular cam 45 of asize adapting it to fit snugly into the aperture A reduced forwardlydisposed arm d6, concentric with the disk 44, extends from the cam .45and is provided with serrations 47 annulariy disposed about itsforwarder-1d portion and terminates in a reduced threaded portion 48.The threaded portion 48 is provided with a transverse kerf 49 on its endface and a thumb or wing nut Sll is threaded upon the reduced portion48.

The bracket 39 is provided with an upwardly extending arm 51 which hasan internally toothed *ture 52 adapted to receive and cooperate with theserrations 47 whereby the bolt 43 is selectively secured atpredetermined axial positions.

A sleeve 53 encircles the portion S6 of the bolt i and bears against theoutside face of closure ii and is clamped between the closure 42 and thearm by means of wing nut 50.

The angle of faces 16 and 17 will vary according to the weightdistribution of the equipment or vehicle upon which the circuit breakeris to be secured, but for purposes of illustration and not forlimitation, when the angles are as disclosed above and the vehicle isdriven up a hill having a greater angle than 4-5 degrees, the liquidconductor 38 flows from the front chamber to the rear chamber breakingthe circuit between electrodes 23 and 24 and also shorting the circuitbetween electrodes 23 and 25, thereby blowing fuse 36. This permanentlyopens the circuit of the ignition system and requires replacing theliquid conductor in the front chamber and also replacing the fuse toagain start the engine.

In applying the device in a magneto system, it is necessary to groundout the magneto to prevent its producing a high voltage spark and thecontacting of electrodes 23 and 25 with electrode 24 adjusted to aposition where it contacts electrode 23, in the same manner preventsoperation of the engine.

When a vehicle such as a tractor, by reason of its own wheel torque,tends to lift the front wheels from the ground and tip the vehicle overupon its operator, the circuit breaker stops the ignition and thuspermits the tractor to settle to its normal position and prevents itsoverturning.

As shown in Figure 3, the liquid conductor separates from the electrodes23 and 24 when the vehicle tilts transversely beyond a normal operatingposition, thus protecting the equipment and operator against overturningtransversely.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A circuit breaker comprising a tubular casing having a dividerdisposed therein midway its length and defining front and rear chambers;closures for the ends of said casing; a bracket supporting the casingfor selective axial rotation; means carried by the circuit breaker forselectively positioning the circuit breaker in vertical angled adjustedpositions relative to said bracket; a pair of electrodes in each saidchamber; a forwardly extending upper wall disposed at an upward inclinefrom the rear chamber toward the front chamber; a liquid conductorwithin said forward chamber and normally connecting the electrodestherein; one electrode in said forward chamber being adjustable towardand away from the other elec trode from connected to selectively spacedrelative positions; said divider having a duo-plane angled facepresented toward said forward chamber and having its lower planedisposed at substantially 45 degrees from horizontal and its contiguousupper face at substantially degrees from horizontal; said conductor,upon tilting of the casing to a predetermined vertical angle, beingadapted to fiow from said front chamber to said rear chamber to connectthe electrodes of said rear chamber.

2. A circuit breaker comprising a tubular casing having a dividerdisposed therein midway its length and defining front and rear chambers;closures for the end of said casing; a bracket supporting the casing;means carried by the circuit breaker for selectively positioning thecircuit breaker in vertical angled adjusted positions relative to saidbracket; a pair of electrodes in each said chamber; a liquid conductorwithin said forward chamber and normally connecting the electrodestherein; one electrode in said forward chamber being adjustable towardand away from the other electrode from connected to selectively spacedrelative positions; said divider having a duo-plane angled facepresented toward said forward chamber and having its lower planedisposed at substantially 45 degrees from horizontal and its contiguousupper face at substantially 30 degrees from horizontal; said conductor,upon tilting of the casing to a predetermined vertical angle beingadapted to flow from said front chamber to said rear chamber to connectthe electrodes of said rear chamber.

3. In a circuit breaker having spaced front and rear chambers separatedby a divider over which a liquid conductor initially disposed in thefront chamber flows into the rear chamber when the device is tilted to apredetermined angle; a pair of electrodes in each said chamber disposedto be electrically connected by said liquid conductor when disposedtherein; and one electrode in one said chamber being supported formanual adjustment toward and away from its companion electrode between aposition wherein the said companion electrodes are electricallyconnected to each other and selective spaced relative positions.

4. In a circuit breaker having front and rear chambers provided withcompanion pairs of electrodes; a divider separating said chambers fornormally confining a liquid conductor in one said chamber; and saiddivider having a duo-plane angled face presented toward said one chamberand having its lower plane disposed at a greater degree from horizontalthan its contiguous upper plane.

5. A circuit breaker comprising a tubular casing having a dividerdisposed therein midway its length and defining front and rear chambers;enclosures for the end of said casing; a bracket supporting the casing;means carried by the circuit breaker for selectively positioning thecircuit breaker in vertical angled adjusted positions relative to saidbracket; a pair of electrodes in each said chamber; a liquid conductorwithin said forward chamber and normally connecting the electrodestherein; one electrode in said forward chamber being adjustable towardand away from the other electrode from connected to selectively spacedrelative positions; said divider having a duo-plane angled facepresented toward said forward chamber and having its lower planedisposed at a greater degree from horizontal than its contiguous upperplane; said conductor, upon tilting of the casing to a predeterminedvertical angle, being adapted to flow from said front chamber to saidrear chamber to connect the electrodes of said rear chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,858,191 Hadley et al. May 10, 1932 2,056,052 Mason Sept. 29, 19362,192,797 Muter Mar. 5, 1940 2,318,989 Dearbaugh May 11, 1943

